1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to distal structures of legs for musical instrument stands and in particular to mechanisms for protruding and retracting spike members from lower ends of legs.
The present application claims priority on Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-12796, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Musical instrument stands for supporting musical instruments at desired heights, such as stands for supporting drums and cymbals, have been widely used and each constituted of a plurality of legs placed on the ground or floor, a support rod which is vertically elongated and interconnected with the legs, and a holding member which is attached to the upper end of the support rod so as to hold a musical instrument. For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose stands which are equipped with spike members at distal ends of legs for the purpose of stability in an upright position.                Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 6,031,170        Patent Document 2: U.S. Pat. No. 7,371,953        
FIG. 4 of Patent Document 1 (not used in this application) shows that a bolt is inserted in a slot and interconnected to a spike member. Loosening and moving the bolt in the extending direction of the slot allow the distal end of the spike member to protrude or retract from the lower end of a leg placed on the floor.
FIG. 2 of Patent Document 2 (not used in this application) shows a spike member which is rotatably interconnected to a leg via a bolt. Loosening the bolt allows the spike member to rotate so that the distal end of the spike member can protrude or retract from the lower end of the leg placed on the floor.
FIG. 5 of Patent Document 2 (not used in this application) shows two buttons allowing the spike member to protrude and retract from the lower end of the leg. That is, one button is operated to make the spike member protrude from the lower end of the leg, while another button is operated to make the spike member retract from the lower end of the leg.
The foregoing structures shown in FIG. 4 of Patent Document 1 and FIG. 2 of Patent Document 2 require troublesome operation in which every time the spike member is operated to protrude and retract from the lower end of the leg, the bolt must be loosened and tightened again, and the spike member must be moved or rotated. This is a complicated and time-consuming operation for a player or user operating the spike member to protrude or retract from the lower end of the leg, which in turn causes a substantial load for him/her in setting the stand holding a musical instrument at a desired position.
In the foregoing structure shown in FIG. 5 of Patent Document 2, a player or user may be confused as to which of two buttons must be operated to protrude or retract the spike member from the lower end of the leg; and this increases a load for him/her in operating the spike member. In addition, two buttons lead to a complex structure for protruding and retracting the spike member from the lower end of the leg.